IN SICKNESS AND IN DEATH
by Elszy
Summary: When the SG-1 teams returns from a mission, Jack O'Neill falls ill. Everyone is at a loss to the cause and the cure. Everyone, but one woman. Only, she's the widow of a lieutenant who died under Jack's command...
1. Chapter 1

**In sickness and in death - chapter 1**

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* * *

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'SG-1 is coming back, sir. Precisely as scheduled,' the officer in the control room announced, and threw a quick glance from the lights on the displays in front of him, to the giant ring on the other side of thick, bulletproof glass. General Hammond nodded approvingly and waited for the energy burst that preceded the team's arrival.

Wearing thick clothing and oxygen masks, and looking very dusty, Daniel Jackson and Teal'c were the first ones to step through the rippling substance of the stargate. Between them, they carried a firmly sealed anti-contamination tank.

Teal'c was hardly bothered by the weight of the tank, which made Jackson look rather weak next to him. But then again, general Hammond thought, as he observed Jackson wiping his forehead when Teal'c and he put the tank on a trolly, everyone looked weak next to Teal'c. He was a formidable man and a worthy asset to the SG-1 team, despite the initial distrust the Jaffa once had to face.

Behind the two operatives Colonel Jack O'Neill followed. The stargate and the iris closed instantly as soon as he stood firmly on the landing platform. Like the two others, Jack was covered in a dusty layer of sand and he began by brushing off the worst. He stamped his feet and shook his head, sand flying around, before he took off his oxygen mask. Then he handed a green army bag to Jackson, who massaged his sore muscles. 'There you go. The camera. See yourself tending to the garden,' he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

'Thanks,' muttered Daniel and took the bag from him. 'It might look just soil to you, Jack, but there may be ice crystals in here. It needs research. That's why I wanted air and soil specimen. And the rocks too.'

'Which you did a fine job carrying,' pointed out Jack, and like Daniel did, he moved his sore arms. 'Heck, even the tiniest of rock weighs a hundred tons down there. This was a waste of time. A useless expedition.'

'You don't know that for sure,' Daniel interjected, offended. 'There might be proof of water. And that might mean that a living orga...'

'For crying out loud, Daniel! It's clear that PXJ-117-115 is a DEAD planet, just as we suspected all along. There is no life there. This was senseless, as I told you from the start.'

'Colonel?' Hammond's voice came over the speakers and Jack looked up to see his boss behind the glass. 'Don't forget to decontaminate. Debriefing in my room, thirty minutes.'

'Great. Decontamination,' muttered Jack and saluted.

Annoyed, he left the room, went through the mandatory shower, ultra-violet bath and check-up, and met with general Hammond half an hour later.

'There's nothing there, sir. Sand. Rocks. Air too thin to go without a mask. The wind's a bitch and it's freezing cold,' Jack opened the debriefing.

'Water means a possibility of living organisms,' Hammond reminded him. 'There might be traces of water in those rocks.'

'Yeah yeah. The primal soup. Daniel told me that. About a million times.' Jack sighed and flexed his fingers. 'Sir, there is nothing there. No plants. Just rocks and sand. Not a single drop of water!'

'What about the other side of the planet?'

'The planet's frozen solid. I don't know what's on the other side! I'm not a scientist!' Jack couldn't hide his frustration and general Hammond raised his hand to calm him down. Before Hammond could point out that Daniel Jackson indeed was a scientist and was instructed to take samples, Jack took a deep breath and said, with a sigh: 'Perhaps Daniel has struck gold in some ancient transcript and believes he'll find water on PXJ-117-115. Anything is possible, but I know one thing for sure: I have seen nothing that even remotely would suggest the presence of water. Or life, for that matter.'

'Would you recommend to bury the stargate?'

Jack thought a few seconds before he answered. 'PXJ-117-115 holds no strategic importance. It doesn't have natural resources. There are no biological reasons to hold on to the stargate. If a team got lost and ended up there, it wouldn't hold out for long. It's barren.'

'All right,' Hammond said and stood up, as did Jack. 'I'll await your report and recommend a shutdown, when doctor Jackson has finished his research. You're right. It's a bad place to get stuck.' He nodded to Jack, who rubbed his hands. 'Something wrong?'

'No, nothing,' Jack said and shook his head. 'The gravity is heavier on PXJ-117-115. Picking up little stones equals weight lifting.' He grinned suddenly, and his dark eyes twinkled, his usual self emerging. 'On second thought... maybe we should keep the gate open, sir. It's a great place to do a workout.'

(tbc)


	2. Chapter 2

**In sickness and in death - chapter 2**

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'How was the funeral?' Daniel Jackson inquired when major Sam Carter came walking in later that day. Due to family circumstances Sam had not accompanied the SG-1 team on their mission earlier.

'Sad. But a very nice service. She was 95, Daniel. Not bad an age to go, right?'

Daniel nodded. He looked at Sam for a moment as she walked to the small pantry to pour herself a cup of coffee. She was still wearing her civilian clothes and looked extremely nice in her black outfit. Suddenly, Jackson felt a pang of loss. Sha're... he missed her so much. He had always been convinced that Jack O'Neill would get her back, but everything took a different turn. It was as if everything with Sha're happened to him in a different life. Daniel worked hard to keep his mind on other things, but sometimes it caught him by surprise, the way Sam had done so inadvertently.

He stretched his neck. Tendons and muscles were sore from the long hours of staring into the electron microscope.

'Find anything?'

'No. I've been at this since we got back, but no luck so far. I'm on a bit of tight schedule because the general wants to shutdown the stargate and bury it.'

'Oh? And why is that?'

'Jack convinced the general that it's dead. The planet I mean. You know Jack. He's got to see it before he believes it. If I don't come up with proof of water soon, he'll have the general on his side.'

Sam smiled, all too familiar with the colonel's impatience, and then let her gaze go over the tiny piles of dirt, chipped stones and pieces of rock. 'Is there anything I can help you with?'

Daniel shook his head. 'No, not really. But thanks. Unless you get a kick out of comparing one grain of sand with the next one...'

'All right, I'll see you later then,' Sam nodded and walked to the door.

'Oh wait, Sam! There's something you can do for me!' Daniel stopped her right in the doorway.

'Sure, what?'

'I promised Jack a rematch in a poker game, but I won't be able to tonight. You can take my place.'

Sam smiled. 'Are you sure?'

'Yeah. Besides, I stink at it. I beat Jack on pure luck.'

Sam now laughed. 'Yes, Daniel. You did. Consider it done.'

She left, and Daniel turned and tested the next sample. He sighed deeply. Twenty five down, a hundred and seven more to go.

---

'Ah, bust,' growled Jack. 'I'm out.' He folded his cards together.

'Teal'c - you have a perfect poker face, but you must let go of the logic. It's calculating as well as bluff,' Sam advised and put down her cards in a perfect fan. 'Ladies and gentlemen... I think you owe me. One full house.'

Jack's cards flew from his hands, falling into the pile of chips in the middle of the table.

'O'Neill? Is that part of the ritual? From your face I would not say so,' Teal'c asked in calm surprise.

'It's not,' doctor Fraiser said and put her cards down. 'It's just his way of saying he's not pleased.'

Jack rubbed his hands. 'No, it's just that my fingers are a bit numb,' he said. He wiggled them as if he was playing the piano. I dozed off in front of the TV. Woke up with a crick in my neck and sleeping fingers.'

'You're getting old, colonel,' Fraiser laughed. 'Dozing off in front of the TV...'

'Hey! The Simpsons were cancelled. I feel asleep while they re-ran Star Trek,' Jack retaliated, collected the cards and began to shuffle them.

'Enough with the chit-chat, sir. Good excuses don't make up for poor play.' Sam grinned, a air of defiance in her eyes, but a smile around her lips.

'Yeah, come on, deal,' said Timber, a young corporal from the elite corps. 'I'm losing too much.'

A sudden silence descended when Jack lost control over the cards, and once again send the lot sprawling over the table. To everyone's surprise he looked aghast, ran his hand over his eyes, and abruptly he stood up. 'I'm... I am sorry. Please excuse me.'

'Colonel?' Fraiser stood up too, as did Sam.

'Are you alright, sir?'

'Err... Yes,' Jack answered and slowly moved his head from left to right and back, as if to test if it was all working the way it should. 'Actually, this is where it ends for me. I'm hitting the sack.' With a nod to the chips on the table, he said: 'Timber, if you touch my pile, you'll be doing chores for the next two weeks.'

The tension was gone. Timber laughed, blushing all the way up to the roots of his hair, and Sam sat down again. But Jack hadn't expected the doctor to be easily convinced and she didn't disappoint him because she stopped him before he could leave the room.

'Colonel... Jack. What was that?'

'Nothing. I just need my beauty sleep.' He winked. 'My bed's a much better place than the chair in front of the TV. Wanna try it out?'

'Don't smart talk yourself out of this,' doctor Fraiser frowned, but she smiled. 'I'll keep an eye on you, but for tonight, you're on your own.'

'Alas! That's the fate of the brave commander!' Jack grinned, turned and walked away. 'Goodnight, doc,' he called out.

'Goodnight, colonel,' doctor Fraiser replied, watched him turn the corner and went back to the poker table. There was a lot at stake and by no means was she going to let Timber win.

(tbc)


	3. Chapter 3

**In sickness and in death - chapter 3**

* * *

The meeting in the conference room the next day, was one of little news. Jack had filed his report on the uninviting planet and explained a little about their findings, Daniel was still busy in the lab and had no news, and Hammond confirmed that the stargate would be buried if the bespectacled scientist didn't come up with anything soon.

'SG-1, I want you to prepare for a visit to the people of Za'rah. There seem to be some problems with the surrounding area of the stargate.'

'What kind of problems?' Jack asked. Under the table he flexed and stretched his fingers. The tingling was driving him nuts and the numbness caused him to drop things. Although he slept well, he had woken up feeling slightly dizzy and with a distant feeling of a headache coming up. The tingling sensation also popped up in the back of his neck from time to time.

The general turned on a screen at the wall and clicked a remote control button to move from one slide to the other. 'Shots taken at the site, a month ago - and this one has been sent to us yesterday.'

Sam said: 'So much undergrowth? In a few weeks?'

The general nodded. 'The vegetation in this area has always been very rich, but it's getting in the way of a safe passage through the stargate. The Za'rah have asked for assistance in case the local Num'hur decide to be in the way, as they've done before. I don't expect it to take longer than a day or two, to properly clear the area. Major, can you ask doctor Jackson to come up with an agent that can slow down that growth process?'

'Yes sir,' Sam said.

'If you can tear him away from...' Jack blinked his eyes '...from... from...' Oddly, he couldn't find the words he wanted to say.

'From his beloved research?' Sam helped.

'That's what I was looking for,' Jack said with a grin.

'The mission is scheduled for 09.00 hours tomorrow,' general Hammond said. 'Dismissed.'

The people around the table stood up and left, Jack and Teal'c the last to go.

'O'Neill, what is wrong with your hands?' Teal'c asked in his characteristic direct manner. He wasn't one to beat around the bush. 'Is it the same problem you experienced yesterday evening?'

'Yes,' Jack said curtly. He didn't like to display shortcomings of any kind.

'Maybe the doctor can provide you with proper treatment,' Teal'c suggested.

'Nah. It's nothing. Come on, let's go and prepare for tomorrow. Sounds a lot more interesting than Jackson's dead planet. Real action. Never liked gardening.'

Teal'c tilted his head a little. 'Gardening?'

'Don't start,' Jack warned him and the two men left the room. They turned the corner and totally unexpectedly Jack bumped into the heavy metal bannister of the staircase that led up to the control room. With a hard bang he fell back, a cry escaping his lips, followed by some very distinctive swearing. He squeezed his eyes shut and clutched at his forehead. 'Auouaah!' he grunted in pain. Then, as sudden as he had made his unfortunate fall, he froze. From his forehead a small line of blood trickled down, his eyes were staring into the distance, a vacant look in them. The blood reached his right eye, found its way through his eyelashes. He didn't blink.

'O'Neill?' Teal'c took a closer look. 'Do you not want to stand up?'

Jack didn't answer. He just sat there, very still, apparently unaware of what was happening around him. Teal'c squatted down and brought his face in front of Jack's. There was no sign of recognition. It was only that Teal'c could see a vein in Jack's temple pulsating, otherwise Jack could just have been a statue.

'O'Neill?'

'Jack? Teal'c, what's going on? Jack?' Daniel appeared in the hallway, kneeled down next to Jack and Teal'c, recognised the seriousness instantly and called out: 'Get a medic team here! Hurry!'

--

Ten minutes later, just when doctor Fraiser checked his pulse, Jack snapped out of the catatonic state he was in. He blinked his eyes, looked around in utter astonishment and sat up quickly.

'Uh-uh, stay down,' Fraiser said, trying to push him back onto the pillows.

'Why am I here?' Jack pushed her hands aside. 'How did I get here?' Teal'c, who stood next to his bed, did no effort to keep his friend lying down.

'You hit your head against a pillar, then froze in the hallway,' he explained, his deep voice calm. 'Are you feeling better now?'

'Hey, put that out of my face.' Impatiently he waved aside the penlight that the doctor used to check on his pupils.

'Sorry sir. It's necessary. You might have suffered some trauma and it's my job to spot it before it's getting in the way of your work.' Fraiser checked his pulse, his temperature and his blood pressure again. Jack carefully probed his forehead and found a big lump and three tiny stitches, much to his surprise.

'Does it hurt?' doctor Fraiser asked.

'A bit sore,' Jack replied truthfully. 'But that's all.'

'Sure?'

'Yeah. I bumped my head and I passed out. Big deal. I've been out more often,' Jack said. 'I'm fine. Can I go now?' He swung his legs over the edge of the bed so his feet were dangling a few inches from the ground.

Reluctantly, Fraiser agreed. 'Come back tomorrow, so I can see how that head wound is healing,' she made him promise.

'I'll be on a mission tomorrow,' Jack said, and buttoned up his shirt.

'Either you'll see me tomorrow before you go through the stargate, or you won't go at all,' Fraiser said, and in her face Jack saw a determination that he knew he shouldn't defy.

'All right,' he agreed. 'Before I'm off, I'll hop in.'

'You do that,' Fraiser nodded. 'You're good to go, colonel. But take it easy for today. No working. Go home and get some rest.'

'But...'

'You heard me. You want clearance for tomorrow? Then I suggest you do as I tell you.'

--

Jack picked up the remote control and zapped through various channels, until he came across an ice hockey match. 'Cool.' He threw the remote aside, rested his head against the sofa and while sipping a beer, he watched the game.

'What the...' The images on the screen became blurry. 'Ah no... not again. Rosario!' Jack grunted, got up and looked behind the TV. He'd seen this happen before: his housekeeper would be a little too zealous with the vacuum cleaner, and hit the cables, causing the connection to go haywire.

He fiddled a bit with the wiring, checked the image, saw it was fine again and sat back. Within minutes the images blurred again. 'For crying out loud!' he snapped to no one in particular and repeated the process, until suddenly the tingling in his neck and fingers hit him with full intensity. It was as if thousands of little needles were simultaneously pressed into his body.

Jack staggered through the room, groaning in agony. It wasn't the TV that was blurry, it was his own vision. The room was filled with furniture that glowed in a strange yellowish way, everything was fuzzy, moving and unclear. A wave of nausea hit him, his skin tightened and sweat broke out.

This was wrong. This was not just a bump on the head. It felt as if his skin was under attack... He dragged himself to the phone and dialled the SGC. Just as he passed out, a last thought struck him. _What is wrong with me?_

_(tbc)_


	4. Chapter 4

**In sickness and in death - chapter 4**

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'You don't know?' Sam said, incredulously, looking at Jack O'Neill through the window. Jack was hooked to all kinds of equipment, tubes were going in and out of his body and medicine found its way through IV's, but despite the drugs, he looked even worse than a few hours ago.

Fraiser shook her head. 'No. I'm at a loss. All my knowledge on exotic diseases doesn't cover this. I can't even establish if it's viral or bacterial.'

'Is it extra terrestrial?' Teal'c asked.

Daniel, who stood on the other side of Sam, took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Is it something he could have picked up on the dead planet?'

The doctor shook her head. 'It's not anything from here, that's for sure. But how could it come from that planet? There's nothing there. You would have found something by now, in all that you brought back. Besides, you and Teal'c don't have it. You're not experiencing anything, are you?'

Uneasily, Daniel ran a hand over the back of his neck before putting his glasses back on. 'Nope, I feel fine.'

'Jack seemed to be fine too, until he hit his head,' the doctor said in return.

'Daniel, IS it possible?' Sam urged, and after some thought Daniel shook his head.

'No. All the samples I've tested turn out negative. There were normal traces of carbon, calcium, quartz and other generic material found in sand and rocks. Pretty much the same as we've got on Earth. More sulphite though, but for the rest...'

'There were no traces of water?'

'Nothing,' Daniel shook his head and sighed. 'Jack was right. If there was ever any water, it came there through the stargate, it doesn't originate from the planet itself.'

'Why does he turn that colour?' asked Teal'c, referring to the odd yellow film on Jack's skin.

'Liver failure. That's why I thought of mononucleosis - or a variant of it - first. The liver can't dispose properly of toxins. Skin and the white of the eyes turns yellow. But it's not.' The doctor pressed Teal'c's arm comfortingly, knowing that the Jaffa was worried about his friend. 'I'm sorry, I have to get back inside,' she excused herself and left the three SG-members as they were, hurrying back to the isolation room. Jack's skin was shining ominously, in a strange yellow glow and behind the oxygen mask he was struggling to breathe.

'Look at his skin,' Sam said quietly. 'As if he's covered in a thin layer of yellow glass.' She swallowed with difficulty and she bit back a sob that came from deep within, when Jack turned his head, noticed her and waved once. It was obvious that he was very, very tired.

'He is doing badly,' Teal'c said.

'What alternatives are there?' Sam said, thinking fast. 'Mononucleosis can only be cured with rest. Besides, there's no drug that can cure it. But the doctor said it wasn't mono. A liver transplant?'

'He wouldn't even get on the list,' Daniel said, shaking his head. 'If you don't know what you're dealing with, you can't just replace one organ with the other.'

'How about a sarcophagus?' Teal'c said.

'Yes!' Sam said, snapping her fingers. For a moment her beautiful blue eyes lit up. The next moment she shook her head again. 'We don't know the locations of any of the remaining sarcophagi anymore. The last one we knew of, is destroyed in the attack on the Goa'ould stronghold of Bez'ain.' She made quick call to the control room. 'Start up all computers on a simulation program to locate a possible sarcophagus,' she instructed. 'I need answers, a.s.a.p. I'm coming right over myself.' She hung up, turned to Teal'c and Daniel and said goodbye before rushing of.

Teal'c bowed his head slightly as to show his appreciation and turned to Daniel. 'Daniel Jackson, do you not know of anyone who has the knowledge to cure him?'

Daniel shook his head slowly. He racked his brains. 'No... this is not from Earth. Even someone like doctor Fraiser who has seen so much and such strange things doesn't know what to do! A cure would require unconventional methods, thinking outside the box and...'

He stopped so abruptly that Teal'c blinked in surprise.

'Wait a minute... I might just have an idea.' He took off, running away through the medical unit. 'Tell Jack to hang in there,' his voice echoed through the hallway as his footsteps died away.

(tbc)


	5. Chapter 5

**In sickness and in death - chapter 5**

* * *

Sam put on the protective clothes and tied the straps of her face mask together, then pressed a button next to the sliding doors. They hissed when she entered the room.

'Sir...' She moved to the bed, softly, on tiptoes. Behind the plastic oxygen mask, the colonel struggled to get air in his lungs. Asphyxiation was awful to see, especially knowing there was nothing anyone could do to help.

'Sir, can you hear me? It's me, Carter.'

She couldn't tell if Jack was asleep or if he was unconscious or just resting, but upon her voice, he slowly turned his head and blinked to get his eyes open.

'Hey,' she said and smiled bravely.

'Hey yourself,' whispered Jack. It was hard to believe that this was the same, strong man Sam had seen fighting for others and for her on so many occasions. He looked frail, his skin shining oddly and when she carefully touched his hand, she experienced the sensation of touching porcelain. Or better: china. Fragile china that could break all too easily.

'I'm hot,' he croaked.

'Sir, we're doing everything we can,' Sam said and didn't care if anyone saw her when she stroked his hair gently. Touching his spiky greying hair comforted her in a strange way. Hopefully he felt that too.

'I know you do,' he whispered. 'Sam... don't go there.'

'Don't go where, sir? PXJ-117-115?'

Jack blinked. Yes, his eyes said.

'Why not, sir? Have you seen something? Was there a life form?' Sam asked, and insisted a little more. 'Sir? Why shouldn't I go there?'

'Sam... don't go there... I don't want... you to die...'

'I'm not going to die, and neither are you,' Sam said firmly. 'Do you hear me, sir? You told me that in Antarctica. You told me you struggled your way through Iraq for days, with a cracked skull! You are not going to leave me, not now, not tomorrow. Not for a long time! Do you hear me?'

'... tired...'

'I know, but don't you dare walking out on us. We're going to find a cure, I promise.'

'... not in this... lifetime...' Jack licked his lips.

Even though despair bubbled up inside Sam, another feeling took over and suddenly she found herself cupping his face with her hands and snarling at him. 'Now you listen to me, colonel. You are going to fight. You are not going to give up. You are going to hang on until we find the cure and then you are going to teach Daniel Jackson a decent game of poker! And Teal'c still needs showing around and a lot of explaining. And as for me: I am not going to let you go before you take me out on a diner. Is that understood?'

Despite himself Jack displayed a grin behind the mask. '... yes ma'am ... Sam... promise me... one thing...'

'What, sir?'

'Don't... go... there.'

'Why not?' Had he seen something that he knew would cause a threat? 'Sir?'

'Because... you're... a diamond... amongst... rhinestones...' Jack's eyes drooped and his head lolled to the side.

'Sir, hang on. We're going to find a cure and you'll get better. I promise.' She pressed his hand very softly, not to hurt him, caressed his cheek line and his chin and stood up. 'I'll be back,' she said and left the room.

(tbc)


	6. Chapter 6

**In sickness and in death - chapter 6**

* * *

Daniel hit the doorbell so hard he was sure it would brake. The nameplate under the bell said "Mikki Montgomery". 'Come on, come on,' he mumbled to the closed door, but after a while he heard footsteps from inside approaching.

The door was opened by a small woman in her mid thirties, who had a healthy tan, slightly freckled cheeks and remarkable bright green eyes. Her hair was short, just like Sam wore it, but it was of a rich black colour. She wasn't wearing any make-up or jewellery. A pencil was stuck behind her ear.

'Hello Mikki,' he said.

'Well, I'll be damned. Daniel Jackson!' she said instantly, a big smile spreading over her face, and she almost jumped him, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him affectionately. 'Daniel! You dog! Still plodding through antiquities and invaders from Mars? It's too long ago! Last thing I heard you were married and living on some far away planet! Come in, come in!' She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. 'What a surprise!'

'It's good to see you too, Mikki' Daniel said, following her. She ushered him to a large balcony, which appeared to be overgrown with the most unusual but beautiful vegetation. In the middle of the plants stood a garden chair and a table, on which sat books, a notebook and a drink. Apparently, Mikki had been at work here. Sun shone warmly on Daniel's face, who, for a moment, realised how much he had missed being outside, after being cooped up in the SGC for days. 'How are you?' he asked.

'Fine! Fine! It's great to see you. What can I get you to drink?'

'Nothing. Mikki... I'm here because I need your help,' Daniel said cautiously. He was very much aware of the fact that he was wearing an militairy outfit, a detail which Mikki was highly sensitive to.

'Privately or work wise?' she inquired, squinting a bit against the bright sunlight.

'Eh...' That was answer enough. Besides, she didn't miss his uneasy tugging at his shirt. Her eyes grew dark. 'I don't work for the military. Ever again. You know that. You're welcome as a friend, but if you're here to recruit me for the Air Force - or any other army department, for that matter - then I suggest you leave before our friendship will be over forever.'

'Mikki...'

'No, Daniel. Absolutely not!'

'A friend of mine is dying. He's been on a remote planet, came back sick and now... we're completely in the dark on what he's got.' Daniel dared not look her in the eye. Instead he looked at his own hands and flexed his fingers. 'It began with tingling fingers, stinging in the back of his neck...'

'I don't want to hear it!' Mikki said loudly.

Daniel pretended not to hear her. 'After that, he began to lose control. Dropped things, stumbled over words he couldn't come up with, hit his head. His liver is shutting down, his breathing is getting more difficult. It happening so fast.' Daniel ran a hand through his silky hair and turned away. A big pink flower moved its head toward him and Daniel, recognising the Caressing Satina from PZJ-349-003, touched it with a smile. The soft structure of the beautiful plant was like pure silk under his fingers and a pleasant sensation ran over his spine. 'He's dying. If we don't come up with anything soon, he'll be dead before tomorrow evening.'

'Do I know him?'

It took Daniel a deep breath to gather courage and he turned red before he answered: 'Jack O'Neill'

He couldn't have hurt Mikki more. She staggered backwards, her cheeks red with anger and deep, intense pain. She pointed at the door, her arm and hand shaking.

'Get out, Daniel,' Mikki said.

'Mikki...'

'Get out!'

But Daniel didn't leave. He took a step closer to her. 'Please Mikki. You've worked on planets, you mapped illnesses connected to them, you've done research in every field of...'

'Jack O'Neill send David to his death!' shrieked Mikki. 'And you want me to come and rescue HIM? Get out, Daniel. You can tell your friends at SGC that I was hiking in Alaska!' She didn't wait for him to go but turned around and headed inside. After taking a few deep breaths, Daniel followed her into the kitchen. She had poured herself a glass of whiskey and downed it in one go, her teeth clattering against the glass. When she noticed him entering, she turned her back to him and looked outside.

'Hey,' Daniel said softly, stepped forwards and put his hands on her shoulders. 'Come here, you.'

She couldn't speak, overcome with grief. Daniel wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Her hair smelled nice, of freesia's and lilies. Finally, after what felt like a long time, he felt her relax a little. 'I am sorry, Mikki. I didn't mean to hurt you, you know that.'

The strong smell of liquor from her breath chased the scent of the flowers away, when she turned around, lifted her chin and said angrily, 'Then why, Daniel?'

He raised his hands. 'Mikki... since a couple of hours, I'm experiencing these phenomena too. My fingers, my neck...'

That caught her attention. 'What?' All colour drained from her face. 'Is that some kind of sick way of luring me into helping Jack O'Neill?'

But Daniel shook his head. 'It was only this morning I noticed. I would have come anyway, even it didn't involve me.' He closed his stinging, bloodshot eyes for a moment. If this was the beginning of the same ordeal Jack was subject to, he was in for a rough couple of days.

'Tell me again,' Mikki said, the muscles in her jaw tightening. 'How it started. Tell me exactly. What planet did he travel to?'

'A depressing pit called PXJ-117-115. We were on a mission to retrieve samples to check for traces of life.'

'On PXJ-117-115? That's been classified barren for a decade.'

Daniel wasn't surprised she knew this at once. Mikki had always displayed an unbelievable sharp memory, surprising both professors as well as fellow-students with her extensive knowledge on the most different of matters.

'It was supposed to be the final research before closing down that stargate,' he explained. 'SGC had to be sure there was no life.'

'There IS no life there,' Mikki stated. 'I could have told you that ages ago. A trip there is a waste of time.'

'Well, Jack turned ill after that, and no one has a clue to what it is. I've checked all kinds of samples but not one specimen contained organic material, so I seriously doubt if he picked it up on 117-115. Maybe something hitchhiked along through the wormhole, I don't know.'

Mikki bit her lower lip. Her silence rendered Daniel numb and a feeling of despair began to manifest itself. 'Mikki, please tell me you have an idea.' He said after thinking in silence for a long time.

'No. Who's your doctor?'

'Her name is Janet Fraiser. She's good, but ...' Daniel raised his hand, not finishing his sentence because it wasn't easy to say it out loud. Instead, he looked around in the kitchen. Magnets held notes and photos in place on the fridge door. One photo was a snapshot of Mikki and her late husband David, smiling at the camera, a huge palm tree visible behind them. Mikki's chiffon dress flapped playfully around her legs, and David held his hand to his Knicks-cap to keep it in place. Mikki followed Daniel's gaze and smiled.

'Our honeymoon. Hawaii. Beautiful island. It was very windy that day.'

'He was a great guy. I was really sorry to hear he died,' Daniel said softly, then his mind went back to the reason he was here. 'Please come with me, Mikki.'

'No.'

'I didn't think I would ever say this, but O'Neill is not that bad. He's an Air Force man, but he's very responsible and although he sometimes drives me crazy with his sarcasm and lack of belief in science, I owe him. I even think he's okay.'

'Not in my book he isn't.'

'You don't know...,' Daniel began but Mikki interrupted him.

'The Air Force never told me what happened - confidentiality and all that bull shit. But I spoke to two of David's team mates. It's crystal clear that O'Neill send him off to his death. Period.'

'That doesn't sound like Jack. He can be a pain in the butt, but he's a team player.' Daniel shook his head slowly. 'If only you could see him. He's so sick. His skin. It's so strange - it's like yellow plastic. The colour of your dress in this photo.'

With a jolt, her head shot up to face him and she did a step back. 'What?! Yellow?'

'Yeah. Liver failure, the doctor said.'

'It's not. He picked it up from the stargate itself at PXJ-117-115. Let's go,' Mikki said grimly.

(tbc)


	7. Chapter 7

**In sickness and in death - chapter 7**

* * *

Daniel knew better than to force Mikki to shake hands with the general. He brought her to the isolation ward, showed her to Jack's room and quickly introduced her to doctor Fraiser.

One look on Jack was enough for Daniel to see that things hadn't improved while he was out to get Mikki. Jack slept, uneasily, restlessly. He had been given a light sedative to allow him to relax a little, but asleep he looked just as unnerving as when he was awake. The colour and the odd shine on his skin combined with his fight to breathe brought goose bumps to Daniel's skin.

Dozens of thoughts and comforting things to say flashed through Daniel's mind, but for once, he was lost for words. Jack and he were always disagreeing on practically everything - Daniel the scientist, the romantic, the dreamer versus Jack the soldier, the cynic, the pragmatic. When they first met, Daniel annoyed the hell out of Jack. Jack, in turn, left no opportunity unused to debunk Daniel's arguments and force his own way into the deal. But, somewhere in time, the initial dislike had turned into mutual respect and even a kind of friendship which was seen by little people, and understood by even less.

While the doctor and Mikki discussed Jack's condition, Daniel joined general Hammond, Sam and Teal'c, who were waiting outside, observing the newcomer closely through the glass.

'Hey Daniel,' Sam greeted him.

'Sam, Teal'c, sir,' Daniel greeted the others with a nod of his head.

'Why did you not speak to him, Daniel Jackson?' Teal'c interrupted his thoughts.

'Sometimes silence says more than words,' Daniel replied philosophically. Suddenly, he snorted and grinned: 'You know what Jack would say if he could hear us now?'

'No. Do you?' Teal'c said, confused.

Daniel chuckled. 'Oh yes. Jack would say: I'm not dead yet, kids.'

'I do not understand.' Teal'c raised an eyebrow, to which Daniel's smile faded.

'Never mind, Teal'c.' Humour and self-mockery were things the Jaffa just didn't get. It was an Earth-thing, mother nature's quip, and one that Daniel already missed without Jack to shoot at them.

Hammond cleared his throat. 'Doctor Jackson, I understand the need for speed, but I would have appreciated an introduction,' he said.

'Sorry for that, sir,' Daniel apologised uneasily. 'Her name is Mikki Montgomery. I thought it was best to take her to Jack right away.'

'Who is she?' General Hammond didn't comment any further, but clearly wasn't pleased with the lack of protocol.

'We studied together, a long time ago. If there is anyone who might know what we're up against, it's Doctor Montgomery. Sir...' Daniel hesitated for a moment, then continued: 'There's something you should know. She lost her husband to the Air Force. He was killed in action.' That was part of the reason too, of hurrying her into Jack's ward. Daniel wasn't sure if the general would agree if he knew about Mikki's background.

'Her husband? Do I know him?' inquired Hammond, to which Daniel shook his head.

'No sir, not likely. You weren't working here at the time. His name was David Montgomery. Jack knew him. He was on one of Jack's survey teams.' He cleared his throat. 'In fact, Mikki says Jack is responsible for his death.'

Sam's eyes grew wider. 'What?'

'Mikki has a PHD in cultural anthropology, biology and studied ancient languages. Amongst others. She worked for the Air Force since the discovery of the stargate, translating old runes and transcripts. David was a lieutenant. That's were they met. After David's death she left and never came back. I haven't seen her for years.'

'How did her husband die?'

'I don't know. That information was never released.'

Sam shook her head, not taking her eyes of the small woman with the dark hair who encircled Jack's bed and spoke with doctor Fraiser, gesturing angrily. 'I'm not sure if this is a good idea. If she holds a grudge, she might just as well pull the plug.'

'Instead of what?' Daniel said. 'Jack's life is hanging by a thread. Let her take a shot at it, Sam. It took me a lot of convincing to get her down here, but now that she is, I am sure that she will do everything in her power to help him.'

'We should give Daniel Jackson's friend a chance,' Teal'c stated. He was worried too. 'Although the doctor and she do not seem to agree.' He nodded toward the room, where the two women were discussing Jack's condition, both looking fiery in their conviction about a treatment.

'I want to hear what they're saying,' general Hammond said curtly. He pressed a button next to the window, and said: 'Excuse me, doctor Fraiser, doctor Montgomery. Can we speak?'

'Yes,' doctor Fraiser said angrily.

'No,' Mikki said, but only Daniel saw her lips move. He didn't miss the hurt in her face either. There was a different man in the bed, but she had been standing in a similar place nine years ago.

Poor Mikki, he thought, and his heart went out to her.

--

'If you want to save his life, you bring him back to that planet right now,' Mikki snarled.

Doctor Fraiser reacted angrily. 'She wants us to expose him to the cold and the wind on PXJ-117-115,' she said, her nose wrinkling with disbelief. 'There's no way he can go back there! He wouldn't survive!'

'For crying out loud! It's the only thing that WILL save him! I came here because Daniel asked me, but if you only want me to say the things you want to hear, then I'm out of here!'

General Hammond, master of negotiation, raised his hands. 'All right, every one. Calm down. Miss Montgomery...'

'Doctor Montgomery!' She snapped at him. 'And it's Mrs, not Miss.'

Hammond surrendered with a small nod of his head. 'I stand corrected, I apologise. Doctor Montgomery, could you please explain why Colonel O'Neill should be brought back to PXJ-117-115? As I understood, there's only sand, wind, icy temperatures and barely any oxygen there. Hardly the place to park a gravely ill man.'

Mikki let out a deep, impatient sigh. For a moment Daniel thought she was going to say that the general could go to hell, but Hammond's friendly voice and easy demeanour eased her a little. 'I will but not until you put him on ice first. He needs to be as cold as possible. That way, you buy him a little time.'

'But...' Fraiser objected.

'Do it!' Mikki snapped. 'Just... do it.'

Doctor Fraiser still disapproved, but both Daniel and the general nodded and urged her to do what Mikki said. Fraiser left the meeting room quickly and came back a minute later. 'They're getting ice packs now,' she said curtly and took a seat. General Hammond gestured invitingly to a chair, but Mikki didn't sit down. Instead, she paced the room like a caged animal.

'Daniel will concur that's he found a lot of sulphite in the specimen from the dead planet, right?'

'Yes. That struck me,' Daniel agreed.

'It's not sulphite. It's _saphphrite_. The molecular structure looks almost the same as sulphite, I didn't spot it the first time either, but there is a difference. Combined with _Rodendris Singularis_ it causes a deadly threat.'

'Combined with what?' Eyebrows went up the same time, voices uttered the words in unison.

'Rodendris Singularis. It's a bacterium that lies dormant on metal. O'Neill is suffering from what I call _saphphritis_,' Mikki said.

'I've never heard of that,' doctor Fraiser said, but her interest was apparent. 'A bacterium?'

Mikki nodded curtly. 'The bacterium works as a catalyst but the saphphrite is the actual killer.'

'How did he get it if he picked it up on the PXJ-117-115? There is no metal there,' Daniel asked, blinking his eyes, unable to understand.

'Doctor Montgomery, we're all laymen here. Would you please start from the beginning?' general Hammond pleaded. Mikki looked at him for a moment, sighed again and then nodded.

'All right. From the top.'

(tbc)


	8. Chapter 8

**In sickness and in death - chapter 8**

* * *

Mikki was the only one standing, and walked slowly from one side of the room to the other. Teal'c, Sam, the doctor and general Hammond followed her moves, but Daniel didn't. He looked at his hands and wiggled them slowly. He didn't look up when Mikki began her explanation, just concentrated on her voice, which was low and calm. She chose her words with care.

'I've seen this before, twelve years ago. Once. A mission team came back and just like with your colonel, one of the men came down with this totally unknown disease. His name was Ken Michaels. Liver failure was what caused the yellowish skin tone, according to the doctors. But I knew something was wrong. It wasn't the liver, the yellow tinge wasn't coming from the inside, but seemed to spread over his body from the outside.

I took skin and blood samples, and after endless hours of observation, I witnessed something that resembled living particles - like liquid sand. It happened very quickly and if I hadn't been so alert, I would have believed it had been my imagination. It was next to impossible to catch this "happening in the act" and most of the other doctors laughed at the mere idea, said I had been gazing into the microscope for too long. Living, liquid sand?

I noticed a slowdown in the multiplying process when the stuff was exposed to extreme cold. I pleaded for the medical team to put Michaels on ice, but it was too late.'

Mikki ran a hand through her short, thick hair. 'After Ken Michaels' death, I studied the phenomenon endlessly, but I just couldn't get my finger on it. It wasn't until a piece of metal from the stargate came back for repair - years later - that I had a break through. There were dead bacteria on the metal bindings. At least, they appeared to be dead. But upon closer study I noticed something I had only once seen before: in Ken Michaels' illness.'

'You saw the same particles?' doctor Fraiser asked.

'Yes. Traces of that liquid sand. By then I had named it _saphphrite_. I ran hundreds of tests, feeling in my gut that I was on the right track. Eventually, this is what I found. _Rodendris Singularis_ lies dormant, on the outside of metal bindings of stargates that can be found on planets with the same classification as PXJ-117-115: an HHEP.'

To Teal'c's questioning look and doctor Fraiser's ditto face, Sam quickly explained: 'A_ Human Hostile Environment Planet._ One that cannot sustain life.'

'Unfit for colonisation,' Daniel added.

'There are quite a few of those in the galaxy,' Sam pointed out. 'And no one has seen this condition before? That's a little hard to believe.'

Mikki cast her an irritated look. 'Don't ask me why the initial builders set up those bloody stargates on such planets in the first place. Who knows what was on such a planet thousands of years ago? Maybe the builders used them as test planets! I'm just saying that for Rodendris Singularis, it's the ideal spot to wait for the next fool to come rushing in.'

'Are you saying it's a deliberate act?' Sam couldn't hide her scepticism, but Mikki shook her head.

'No, it's not like it's an intelligence of some kind. It resides on metal, in an ice cold environment. The minute something warm-blooded comes into contact with it, it reacts. In this case, the human skin, but I've seen it do the same with lab rats. Once it does, it attacks the nerves systems.'

'Hence the tingling fingers...' Sam understood.

'Yes. It seems to go for the extremities first. Then the neck, which causes the dizziness and lack of focus, since signals to the brainstem travel along that way.'

'But if that is so, then Jack must have touched the stargate with his bare hands,' Daniel said thoughtfully. 'He was wearing gloves. We all were.'

'Yes. It doesn't react through cloth or fabric. But even the slightest patch of bare skin might be enough.'

'But everyone was wearing thick thermal clothing,' the general said.

'A sleeve riding up and exposing an inch of bare skin might already be enough,' shrugged Mikki.

Teal'c, who had hardly spoken since the meeting started, said: 'I have seen O'Neill lean against the stargate for support. He had taken off one glove to make an adjustment to the camera.'

'Damn,' grunted Sam.

'We might be able to see that on the footage,' general Hammond said. Then he asked Mikki: 'Where does the saphphrite come in?'

'The saphphrite is the real killer. Its reaction is triggered by the Rodendris and the saphphrite liquifies, multiplies, expands and spreads. It attaches itself to the skin, over the entire body. On the outside. It forms a sort of impermeable coating. Do you see where it's going?'

'He's going to suffocate,' Daniel was the first to pick up the implication of her words. He swallowed visibly and wiped his forehead with a shaking hand. 'Once the saphphrite covers him completely, he'll be... sealed... as it were.'

A silence fell as each individual pondered on that horrific thought.

Mikki picked up her story after a minute. 'Daniel is correct. The skin is man's largest organ and of vital importance. If the skin cannot breathe, the patient will die. In your colonel's case, it's extremely painful, because although it looks like a thin plastic film, the saphphrite digs deeply into the skin with hooks. Think of... being rubbed in with shards of glass, all over.'

'Can we not peel or scrape it off?' doctor Fraiser asked, but Mikki shook her head. 'No. He would be skinned to bone. Literally.'

She opened a can of beer that she miraculously conjured out of her bag, and took a big swig, giving the people present a few moments time to think about her words.

'Doctor Montgomery,' general Hammond said, raising a disapproving eyebrow at the beer can, 'what is your idea for a treatment?'

'There is no treatment other than to bring him back to 117-115. Expose him to the elements there and let nature do its work,' Mikki said after a moment's hesitation.

'No!' Sam said.

'Yes!' Mikki snapped. 'And with as little clothes on as possible.'

'You're insane,' Sam said, her eyes widening in shock at the idea. 'Sir, there must be another way. We... we can copy the conditions in a lab!'

'There is no time!' Mikki snarled. 'You don't get it, do you? Have you ever studied the true conditions on such a planet? Well, I have. The gravity is so heavy that you hardly lift your feet an inch. Picking up a tiny pebble from the ground feels like you're lifting fifty pounds. Ask Daniel, he knows! The wind is so cold that you feel you're under attack and if you take off your oxygen mask, you'll lose consciousness within a minute.'

'And that's what you want to expose the colonel to?' Sam couldn't help but raising her voice.

'It's exactly what is going to release the saphphrite from his body,' Mikki explained. 'It'll cool off, the lack of oxygen will slow down the process of suffocation, the bacteria will die and, due to the gravity and the fierce wind, the saphphrite will eventually fall off.'

'Sounds plausible to me,' Daniel said softly.

'It doesn't, actually,' Mikki said to his surprise. 'Normally you wouldn't cut off the air supply from a man who's craving for oxygen. But in this case, it works.'

'He won't survive. He's too weak already,' Sam objected. 'Let me work on finding a sarcophagus. If we can stretch this a day longer...'

'He'll be dead before that time,' Fraiser said. It wasn't clear what caused it, but she had a change of heart, that was obvious. 'The cold might actually be the thing that keeps him alive. The way cryogenics work: a sort of hibernation.' Her voice was soft but filled with very careful anticipation. 'I'm beginning to understand what doctor Montgomery has told us. The more I think about it, the more logical it sounds.'

'How long will it take?'

'I don't know. The longer you wait, the further the saphphrite will have spread.' Mikki looked Sam straight in the eyes. No matter what one thought of her, Mikki had been very straight with them and appeared compassionate and earnest in wanting to save the colonel.

Daniel stood up. 'I'll go first,' he announced, to everyone's surprise. When he saw eyebrows risen, he cleared his throat and said: 'I've got it too. The fingers. The pain in my neck.'

'What?'

'Daniel Jackson?'

'You?'

Amidst all the stress, Mikki uttered a laugh. 'No Daniel. You don't need to be the guinea pig. You've haven't got saphphritis, don't worry. You are just suffering from too long hours behind your computer and have your nose buried in books. For you, the treatment is easy. You just need to relax a bit more.'

'But...' Daniel blinked his bloodshot eyes. Dark rings encircled them, and his pale face added to a rather unhealthy appearance. He stepped over to her and looked at her intently. 'But my fingers... and my neck...'

'As I sad: too much stress,' Mikki said softly, but amused. 'I spotted that the moment you walked in.'

'But if you knew, then why...' Daniel didn't finish his sentence. It was difficult to say: _why would you want to save the man who is responsible for David's death?_

She didn't answer his unfinished question, leaving Daniel lost for words. 'Mikki...' he whispered and touched her hair. 'Thank you.'

'Eh...' Sam, not at all happy with the strange intruder and the insane notion that Jack had to be left for dead on PXJ-117-115, sighed deeply, and frustrated she tapped her fingertips on the table. 'Sir?' She had to leave it to general Hammond to call the shots.

'Do it,' Hammond said after a while. 'Teal'c, doctor Jackson, doctor Fraiser, you will escort the colonel. Make the necessary arrangements, quickly.'

'Sir, I want to go,' Sam said.

'No, major Carter, I want you to continue locating a sarcophagus. We might be needing it if this should fail.' Hammond didn't blink. His mind was made up.

'But sir...'

'That's an order, major,' he said sternly and Sam couldn't do anything else than biting back whatever she wanted to say. 'Yes sir.'

'I have work to do.' doctor Fraiser stood up. 'I'll get all the medical equipment ready.'

She turned her head and smiled to Mikki before she left the room.

'Doctor Fraiser?'

'Yes?'

'Whatever you do, however hard it is for him: don't touch him. He's safe to go when the saphphrite comes off, and when that happens, you'll see it. But until that moment comes: don't touch him, don't cover him up, don't try to help him or ease his suffering.'

'We won't. Thank you.' A friendly, grateful nod, and away she was.

The general stood up and addressed the small doctor. 'You have been a tremendous help. If you want to, you can join the team?'

'Thanks but no thanks,' Mikki said, shaking her head. 'This is were it ends for me.'

General Hammond nodded and smiled gratefully. 'Then if you will excuse me? I have to see my team out.'

'Tell them to stay off the stargate. There might be more Rodendris lurking to jump someone,' she advised and after general Hammond promised her he would, he left the room.

(tbc)


	9. Chapter 9

**In sickness and in death - chapter 9**

* * *

'Cartouche number seven in place, sir.'

'Open de iris.'

The event horizon burst out once as always, but different than most of the times Sam could not enjoy the spectacle. Usually she found herself surprised by its beauty, the slightly wavy surface, the colour and the specks of lights. But today, she dreaded the moment.

The ramp was cramped with people.

Jack was strapped to a specially engineered plastic gurney, almost naked under the special cooling blankets. Teal'c held a fold-out tent and thermal blankets, while Daniel was carrying a case with medical supplies. The third one in the row was doctor Fraiser, tending to more medical equipment. There was a peculiar contrast between the thickly clad people, and the man on ice on the gurney. His teeth clattered from the cold, and he shivered, even in his deep artificially induced sleep. Sam and general Hammond saw them out.

Sam touched Jack's hair very lightly, and her fingers hovered an inch over his face. Mikki's words that Jack was feeling like being rubbed in with glass fragments, held her from caressing his chin. 'Hang in there, sir,' she told him. 'Don't give up. Teal'c and Daniel and doctor Fraiser are coming with you, and I'll be here when you get back.'

Jack didn't show any signs of having heard her - in fact he didn't seem to be aware of anything at all. There was a tiny patch of condensation on the inside of the oxygen mask, which comforted Sam a little. He was still breathing, albeit it shallow. Soon, the oxygen mask had to go off, and he would be gasping for air again. Jack's skin was glistening like yellow cake frosting, but there were still uninfected little spots that carried a dull, sheet white colour, without the shiny ominous layer. He moaned, softly, subconsciously, and a wheezing breath made Sam's stomach turn to stone. 'Hang in there,' she said once more, before taking a step back.

'Clear the ramp,' the general ordered. 'Teal'c, doctor Jackson, docter Fraiser... good luck.'

The three nodded and rolled the gurney up the ramp. A few seconds later they were gone.

--

The procedure was one of the mentally toughest ones the team had to go through. Jack was out alone, looking like some grotesque cartoon character, as if defying the gods of wind and cold, lying naked on the plastic gurney. Hammond didn't take any risks on attracting more bacteria to metal, even though Mikki had assured him that it only lived on the stargate itself. The other team members huddled together in a tiny tent that provided them with some shelter. All they could do was sit and wait.

'He's off life support and oxygen for fourteen minutes now,' Fraiser reported, as she had done with regular intervals. Her voice carried to Teal'c and doctor Fraiser through the microphones in their helmets, and was also sent to SGC.

'How is he doing?' came Sam's voice over their mikes.

'O'Neill is not looking good,' Teal'c answered her gravely. 'Have you got any success locating a sarcophagus?'

'No,' Sam had to admit. 'I've adapted all the programs, but they're still searching. We contacting our allies to help us, but so far no luck.' Her voice had a metallic touch to it as it carried through the wormhole into the ears of the team. 'Daniel, are you okay?'

Daniel was very quiet. The last time he'd been here, was no picnic in the park. Jack had laughed at his panting and grumbled swearing when Daniel had been trying to collect soil samples and the rocks turned out to be so heavy. For Teal'c, the strong Jaffa, it had been less of a problem, although he too was hindered by the gravity. Jack had been filming for a while, as part of the mission, but he his cheerful mockery had soon died, when the small camera began to feel like fifty pounds in his hands as well.

'I'm all right,' he assured her. 'Just worried. It's not easy to watch him, Sam. It's hard to tell if he's still breathing.'

'It's worse for him,' she said softly. 'Bring him home alive, Daniel.'

Daniel didn't answer.

It was gruesome to watch Jack, all alone, the elements tormenting him. He looked like death had warmed him over already. The desire to get him the hell out of there was so overwhelming that it took the team a lot of control not to give in that.

Doctor Fraiser said she suspected the process to go fast, because Jack's body was cooling down very rapidly, which was backed up by Mikki, still present in the control room. Both doctor Fraiser, Teal'c and Daniel were monitoring Jack with every change in the wind that came and swept over the still body on the gurney.

After what looked like hours but appeared to be forty three minutes a chance was visible. The yellow colour was fading, quite suddenly, and on Jack's body, hundreds, no thousands of pill-shaped drops emerged. 'Look,' Daniel whispered.

'What's happening?' Sam almost shouted.

'It's coming loose,' doctor Fraiser said breathlessly. 'But it's still trying to stick together. Cohesive and adhesive forces at work.'

'Like oil and water.' Teal'c translated into a graphic description of what he saw.

Ten more minutes and the pill-shaped residue broke into tiny bits, and, exactly like Mikki had promised, the wind and the gravity suddenly got hold of it. It looked as if a giant vacuum cleaner was turned on below the gurney. The saphphrite was pulled off and fell to the ground. The yellow colour disappeared, and almost instantly Jack's body became frighteningly pale. Before the others could react, Teal'c was already out of the tent, pushed an oxygen mask over Jack's face and wrapped him in a thermal blanket. He lifted him, effortlessly as if he picked up a child, and with his friend in his arms, made his way back through the stargate.

Daniel shouted into the microphone. 'It's done! We're coming back!'

Three days later, Jack opened his eyes.

(tbc)


	10. Chapter 10

**In sickness and in death - chapter 10 EPILOGUE**

* * *

Jack took a deep breath before pressing the doorbell, unaware of the fact that Daniel had done exactly the same ten days earlier.

It was a nice day in May, sunny, with little white clouds drifting by calmly. No hard winds, no icy cold - even though Jack couldn't remember much of his "treatment" he was still, on some kind of vague subconscious level, aware of heavy pulling and tugging, and cold, bitter, bitter cold. The gravity on PXJ-117-115 caused that first sensation and the wind and the temperature for the second one, Daniel had explained. Jack had been cold for days. It was as if his internal thermostat was busted. He was a man for showers rather than a hot tub, but he had been sitting in baths a lot the past days, trying to get warm.

But by now he was almost himself again. His body still carried numerous scorch marks and tiny cuts from both the saphphrite as well as the wind, but, apart from the occasional chill, he felt fine.

The door opened.

'Hello Mi-Mo,' Jack said uncomfortably.

'Mi-Mo? No one's called me that for years,' Mikki said, unwillingly. She did not attempt to make it any easier. Then, a bit less terse: 'You look better than the last time I saw you.'

'So do you,' Jack said slowly, taking in the dark hair, the green eyes and the lightly freckled cheeks of the woman facing him. She wasn't pretty according to conventional standards, but he remembered from a long time ago that she had a great sense of humour and a laugh that was catching. That made her special, made people look twice when she talked and laughed. 'You've taken good care of yourself.'

'What else is a girl to do if she hasn't got a husband to do it for her?' Mikki straightened her back. Apparently, it was still very difficult for her to even look Jack properly in the eyes. 'What do you want, O'Neill?'

Standing in the porch wasn't the right place to say what Jack had on his mind, but he didn't want to invade her privacy either, so he asked: 'How about a walk? I'd like to talk to you.'

Mikki agreed, though reluctantly, and for a while they strolled through the park opposite Mikki's house. An uneasy silence hovered between them.

'I'm not very good at this.' Jack made the first move. 'But I know you saved my life. Thanks. It can't have been easy.'

'No. It wasn't.'

'Mi-Mo... Mikki - David's death wasn't in vain. But it wasn't my fault.'

'That's not what I heard. You were his superior.'

'You don't know what happened,' Jack said.

Mikki stopped for a second. 'No,' she said firmly. 'I don't. Cos the military keeps it all to itself. The official explanation said Dave was killed in the line of duty. Some duty.'

'He was very brave.'

"Brave? Bravery is for idiots who think they can change the world single-handedly!'

Jack cast his dark brown eyes on the face of the woman next to him. Her body language radiated from her like a fire. Mikki hated his guts. 'He did change a world, Mikki. Not ours, but a world far away.'

'Bull shit.'

'No, it's not!'

'Yes it is!' she spat.

Jack felt a temper rising. 'For crying out loud, stop being so defensive! You don't know what happened.'

'Then tell me!' she cried out. 'I heard through the grapevine that you send him off to place charges somewhere, and that he knew he couldn't come back. It was a forlorn hope from the start.'

Jack sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead. 'Look Mikki. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Davids actions, placing a bomb and setting the charges, prevented a certain defeat and the loss of many, many lives. A planet would be enslaved by the Goa'ould for centuries. He made sure that won't happen. Ever. David died a hero.'

'Hero? Hero my ass! Heroism is cool in books and films, but in reality it leaves a hole in the lives of people who stay behind!' shrieked Mikki. 'And you just send him off. You never mentioned to tell him that he had a wife before he decided to play the John McClane of the universe?'

'I didn't send him off.' Jack was surprised to see her bitterness. 'He wanted it himself. He wanted it to be over.'

'He wanted it to be over.' Mikki repeated his words flatly. 'The battle, you mean.'

'No. Not the battle. His illness. He wanted to go out with a meaning, and not spend the last months of his life being sick from chemo and drugs. If I had to make that choice, I'd probably do the same.'

'What the hell are you talking about, O'Neill?' Mikki spat. She stopped in the middle of the walking path, sun shining in her hair, her cheeks red with emotions, demanding an answer.

Jack saw it, in that particular moment. It was as if someone had turned on a spotlight in a pitch dark room. Suddenly he understood why she was so angry - she didn't know. She had never known.

'Mikki... you didn't know?' He said slowly.

'Didn't know what?!'

'That David's cancer was terminal.'

Mikki's eyes grew wider. 'David's cancer was... What kind of crap is that? David didn't have cancer!'

_Damn_, Jack thought. She didn't even know THAT detail. 'Yes,' he said quietly. 'He had.'

Disbelieving, Mikki very slowly shook her head. 'Oh no. Oh no. That's a lie, O'Neill. That's a lie! David didn't have cancer! He would have told me! It's something you lot come up with to justify it for yourself and...'

'Mikki!' Jack put his hands around her upper arms. 'Listen to me. It's not a lie. He came to me and told me, and the doctor confirmed it. A brain tumour. I thought you knew.'

'No, no, no,' whispered Mikki, and brought a hand to her mouth. 'No, that can't be true. He would have told me. He told me everything.' She didn't look at Jack, but stared right through him. Shock was written all over her face.

'I'm not lying to you, Mikki. I know he loved you very much. I think he wanted to spare you the pain of seeing him get worse and worse and then die.'

'But I would have...' Her voice faltered.

'You would have taken care of him, I know. Right until the end. And he knew that too. There was nothing anyone could do about it, and he did what he thought was right. Make a difference.'

'This can't be... no.'

'Yes,' Jack said softly.

'In sickness and in health...' muttered Mikki. 'Not in sickness, just in death, in my case.'

'Don't be so hard on him. He spared you.'

'He... I... You... I...' She closed her eyes, tears running down both cheeks. Tiny, silver trails full of emotions, coming from deep within.

'Come on,' he said softly and the two walked further, Jack guiding her now by softly holding on to her elbow. They stopped in front of a sunlit bench and sat down. 'I can't believe it, it's too much.' She swallowed and ran the back of her hand over her cheeks to wipe the tears away. 'He complained about headaches, sometimes. But who doesn't? We both thought he worked too hard. Why didn't I see it? Why didn't he tell me?'

'People deal with such things in their own way,' Jack shrugged.

'I don't know what to think,' Mikki said with a thick voice, after a silence. 'I'm not sure if I should be angry with him or be proud.'

'I can't tell you how to feel. If it's any consolation, I was honoured that he served under my command. It was very brave what he did, even if he knew he was going to die anyway.' From his pocket Jack took out a tiny object, wrapped in a sheet of tissue. He unfolded it. 'I've been meaning to give you this for a long time. I've tried to contact you after David's death, but you were gone.'

He took her hand and in her outstretched palm he put a simple golden ring. 'I've kept it for you, all those years. He asked me to give it to you.'

Mikki was speechless. She blinked as she studied the wedding ring. _Mi-Da-Mo forever_, the inscription said.

'Thank you,' she managed to say after a long, long time.

'And you. Thank you.' Jack knew that this was the start of a new era. The tension between them resolved quickly.

'Funny, isn't it? If I hadn't gone to SGC for you, I would never have known all this.'

Jack grinned. 'I guess you owe Daniel. We both do.'

'Yeah, we do. You've got some good friends, Jack O'Neill. That Sam, she was willing to walk to hell and back for you. And the big silent guy... quite a character. And Daniel... Daniel came to plea for your case, knowing I'd kick him out the moment he'd drop your name.'

'I must admit that kinda surprised me. Why did you come?'

Mikki shrugged. 'No good deed is completely unselfish, O'Neill.'

'Sorry?'

'You heard about the similar case? Kenneth Matthews? I knew I was right when I did the research back then. Everyone declared me an idiot. I was the mock of the decade: living sand and a bacterium I had named after a plant that grew outside my window. But I knew I was right. I didn't plan on coming, until Daniel mentioned the yellow wrapper you were turning into. If I was ever to prove myself, this was the moment.'

'Ah. I see you what you mean. And I thought you liked me after all.' Jack grinned at her confession but also felt a pang of disappointment. 'You never considered letting me to rot out there?'

She shook her head. 'No. Not really. It could have happened to anyone, I guess. It could have happened to Daniel. The way Ken Michaels suffered... I couldn't let that happen again. Not if I could help it. No matter who would be the victim. Too many lives get lost because of stubbornness and decisions made for the wrong reasons.'

Jack put his hand on her shoulder. 'Is there some kind of secret code that you only scientists know of? You sound like Daniel Jackson.'

That provoked a smile. 'You're not bad, O'Neill. Dave liked you. But I needed to vent my anger one way or the other. You were... conveniently there.'

'I won't be going anywhere soon. I'm still on sick leave.'

'That's not what I mean,' said Mikki but she smiled.

Jack grinned too. 'You wanna grab a beer? I seem to recall Heineken was your favourite.'

'Still is. Beer sounds fine.'

'I'll buy. Come on, let's go.'

THE END

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_Alas, it's over. This is where it ends, I hope you enjoyed the story. Thank you for reading, and thanks for reviewing too! I'm not a native English speaker, nor have I ever lived in an English speaking country, so if you spot weird sentences, cut me some slack, please ..._

_Elszy_

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